I have literally no words for how I’m feeling after this book.

It’s magic and melancholy and I feel like I just want to lay here at CRY ABOUT IT.

Ashley Poston has cemented herself as one of my favorite authors after The Dead Romantics and now The Deven Year Slip.

My goodness GRACIOUS am I emosh. Loved it. Loved it loved it loved it.

After reading The Dead Romantics last year, I knew I had to keep an eye on Ashley Poston. The second I saw this book available to request on NetGalley, I sent in a request and crossed all my fingers that I would be approved.

As a big-time lover of the romance genre and a huge sucker for the 'we both love each other but outside forces are keeping us apart' trope, I figured I would adore this book based on the synopsis alone. However, while The Seven-Year Slip may be labeled as a romance, there is so much more to this book than the love story.

Just to be clear, the love story in Seven Year Slip was absolute perfection. Ashley Poston has a wonderful ability to write endearing characters that you cannot help but root for. Clementine and Iwan were two wonderfully imperfect people who very sweetly fall in love despite many obstacles. The weaving of their love was sweet, full of yearning, and just the right amount of angst.

As fantastic as the romance was, this book, to me, is primarily a book about grief. Clementine's struggle with her aunt's passing read so raw, authentic, and vulnerable that I was not at all surprised to read the author's note at the end of the book, in which Poston talks about how she wrote this book as she was coming to terms with her grandfather's passing. There were so many different moments where I was certain I was reading and experiencing the author's grief as well as Clementine's. In my opinion, The Seven-Year Slip felt like a beautifully heartbreaking therapy session transformed into a novel. I smiled, I cried, I laughed through the tears.

While Dead Romantics put Ashley on my 'to watch' list, Seven Year Slip has permanently cemented her on top. If you're looking for a beautiful love story mixed with a touching exploration of grief and a dash of magical realism, please go pick this up immediately!

Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before.

I adored this book from start to finish. I cried, I laughed, I fell in love with everything about this book.

What a treasure!

The Seven Year Slip is a perfect romance for fans of a little time jumping and unique concepts. The intrigue and tension between these two timelines was amazing. You keep wondering, how can they work out? And then it turns into how can they broach this distance? Additionally The Seven Year Slip is a story about grief, our passion for life and being true to ourselves, and love. I could identify with Clementine and how she's using work as a shield to her grief, to her sense of listlessness, and fears.

A magical relationship in an apartment brings together, Clementine and Iwan, seven years ago to build a future in the present. Their love story is romantic, heartbreaking and intentional with its emotions.

Poston brand of romance is a wonderful combination of tenderness and magical realism. The Seven Year Slip is a contemporary romance that will soothe the soul. Its gentle nature will make you believe in love.

Thank you Berkley for the complimentary copy.

Short synopsis: Clementine inherits an apartment from her aunt after she passes, that somehow slips through time by seven years.

My thoughts: I really loved The Dead Romantics last year, and this one was also especially sweet. I really enjoyed the time warp apartment, Lemon’s aunts two rules 1. Always take off your shoes 2. Never fall in love in the apartment.

Ashley has such a fun one of creating magical stories with amazingly lovable but broken characters. We watch Lemon heal through her loss of her Grandma, and find her true passion through Iwan.

“For everything that changed, something stayed the same.”

Read if you love:
- Multiple Love stories
- Magical realism
- Foodie and books about publishing
- Second chance romance
- Amazing side characters

Thank you so much to Berkley Pub and PRH Audio for a copy of this book! Publication date is June 27, 2023.

This was a happy, sad, wonderful love story! It was whimsical, and ethereal, and I could just feel myself right there.

I liked Dead Romantics but I might be obsessed with The Seven Year Slip. It was such a devourable, must-keep-reading romance. I loved the entire reading experience. The way Ashley developed the story on top of the banter was perfection. The reader has the perfect view through Clementine's POV, discovering the wonder and ache of magic alongside the MC.
Clementine's aunt passes away and bequeaths her beloved apartment with a previous warning to never fall in love within its walls. She knows of the apartment's history of time lapsing but when it happens to her, Clementine is left floundering and curious as to why the one who seems to have gotten away never reached out to her in the interim. Seven years of no contact is a curiosity and wonder when their connection is so great.
Time loops and sliding doors - I want them all! The magical aspect provides such a delightful escape through a little bit of fantasy in a contemporary setting. I adored both main characters and the supporting cast and setting provides the perfect backdrop for this enchanting romance.
As per my usual lately, I read and listened to this book simultaneously. The narrator, Brittany Pressley, is perfectly casted and suited for Clementine's voice. I'd recommend either format.
Thank you to Berkley and Netgalley for the advanced copy and PRHA for the alc. All thoughts in this review are my own.

Clementine is feeling a bit lost and out of sorts in her life at the moment. She just lost her aunt, who she was tremendously close to and decides that work work work is her mantra right now. She's good at what she does - she works in publicity for a publisher. Her coworkers are all wonderful and she's aiming to move up in publicity. She's definitely not looking for a relationship. Relationships require time, effort and vulnerability that Clementine isn't up for at the moment.

So then...what happens next is truly bizarre, but entirely a shock to Clementine. She discovers a man in her apartment. Except that he's living 7 years in the past and she's 7 years in the future. Clementine's aunt had always told Clementine that her apartment had *magical* elements. Clementine and Iwan form a special sort of bond together. They're both at a crossroads in their life and bring out the best in one another. But what happens when Clementine finds Iwan in the future (or her present) - is he still the same man as her apartment Iwan?

I admit, it took a bit to get into The Seven Year Slip, but once I got about a quarter of the way in, I couldn't stop reading. Books with time jumps in them don't always work for me, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I really enjoyed The Seven Year Slip. Iwan and Clementine were so funny and goofy together. Their relationship was a slow progression and I really enjoyed how much they got to know one another.

While I did enjoy The Seven Year Slip, it didn't have the same hold on me like The Dead Romantics. Maybe because the fantastical elements were more time travel in this book and sometimes the logistics of time travel gets lost on me in books.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Seven Year Slip and look forward to reading more by Ashley Poston!

CW: grief, suicide (off page), depression

Ashley Poston has done it again! I’m always cautiously optimistic when a beloved author transitions to a new genre but after loving both The Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip, it’s safe to say that Ashley has cemented herself as a favorite adult romance author for me. In The Seven Year Slip, we’re faced with another impossible romance story, due to a magical obstacle. We’re following Clementine who’s inherited her deceased aunt’s very special apartment on the Upper West Side of New York City. This apartment pushes its inhabitants together when they come to a crossroads in their lives, and in this instance, Clementine becomes roommates with a man who lived there for a summer seven years before the timeline she’s currently living in. As I continued to read and develop stronger and stronger feelings for Iwan and Clementine, my major concern was how Ashley could possibly pull off a satisfying ending for this pair but believe me when I tell you that she completely knocked it out of the park. Aside from the page-turning romance and the whimsical setting, Clementine’s best friends (side characters Fiona and Drew), the irresistible way food is discussed, and the fact that Clementine and her buds work in the publishing industry all kept me completely hooked. While at its core The Seven Year Slip is a light hearted romance, Ashley also weaves in the uncomfortable feelings of the grieving process that come with losing a loved one and she never fails to make me cry. Seriously, I need to stop reading her novels on public transit. Clementine was such a delightful character to read from. She’s incredibly hard working and successful in her position, but she’s beginning to reexamine her priorities and try to determine just what makes her happy. It’s relatable to read about a character going through something that so many of us experience as we get older and become comfortable in our careers. I won’t speak too much about Iwan because I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say that I adored this young, enthusiastic, motivated man and his dreamy culinary skills. If you’ve read The Dead Romantics, you’re also in for a treat because we get the most perfect character cameo. It makes me beyond happy to know that these characters all exist in the same universe. So in case you can’t tell, I definitely recommend adding The Seven Year Slip to the top of your TBR pile!

Ashley Poston has done it again! Like with her debut, THE DEAD ROMANTICS, I went into this book without a whole lot of background or expectations and I came out totally loving it! This sophomore book was utterly sweet and full of heart and character.

Clementine is struggling with the recent loss of her Aunt— the woman who very much acted like a mother figure and was her globetrotting partner ever since she was young. She’s been at the same overworked publishing job for the last seven years and overall is just sort of going through the motions of life. Clementine has also inherited her aunt’s apartment— a place that supposedly has a little magic to it. One day after entering, Clementine meets a man, Iwan, in the apartment and realizes that she has slipped back in time to seven years ago. What comes next is a story of timing and love and chances.

I’m a sucker for books with time travel, so go figure I really enjoyed the premise of this story! It felt original in its own way and I loved how the author structured these slips in time. Because even though technically, Clementine is meeting Iwan seven years in the past, it still felt like the present in some ways.

While parts of the romance plot felt fairly predictable, I still enjoyed following along and seeing how everything played out. I particularly loved the themes it brought up of chasing your dreams (or in the case of this story, the moon) and how those dreams and the person itself can change over time. It makes you want to reflect on self-growth and taking chances.

This was an overall clever and witty story with some scenes that will make your mouth water because of the delicious foods. It had its tender moments that were very heartwarming and I just loved its approach to the different relationships between the various characters.

Great follow up to Dead Romantics! Loved the brief Benji and Florence cameo. Overall fun and enjoyable, but I would have liked a deeper dive into the magic of the magical apartment.

As a fan of The Dead Romantics, I was super excited to see that Ashley Poston was coming out with another book. The Seven Year Slip did not disappoint! I loved the premise of this book and the idea of Iwan and Clementine meeting in different years. The chemistry between those two was chef’s kiss (do you get the pun?). I also liked that this book was more than just Iwan and Clementine’s relationship. It was refreshing to read a fleshed-out character development arc. I am eager to see what Poston comes out with next!

4.5/5

Thank you Berkley Publishing Group for the advanced reading copy!

TW: death, suicide

When Clementine loses her aunt and inherits her apartment, she isn't expecting the magic there to be so literal. Her aunt always said the place was special, but when Clementine finds a random man standing in the kitchen one day, she's surprised by the true meaning of her aunt's words. With Clementine firmly rooted seven years in this man's future and uncertainty rooted in hers, she forces herself to adhere to her aunt's two main rules: take your shoes off at the door, and don't fall in love. As Clementine connects more and more with this mysterious man and as her present becomes more and more complicated, one of those rules is going to be much harder to stick to than she thinks...

This was such a fun romance/magical realism story! I haven't read a lot of magical realism and I loved it! I think I might have a new fixation?!?! It was so fun to experience this romantic connection in such an unusual way, and I feel like Ashley Poston did such a great job of mixing the past with the present and connecting the characters with a lot of depth. Clementine and Iwan's banter and overall relationship was really fun and pleasant to read. Any book is made better by supporting characters with personality and humor, and both characters' friends were joyous on the page. This was a great representation of the complexity of grief, especially when suicide is involved, and how this can change throughout our lives. Overall, I really enjoyed this one! It was a quick and lovely read. I want more like this!!

Thank you PRHaudio and Netgalley for my complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!!

I loved The Dead Romantics and loved this one just as much!! Time jump romances can be tricky, but this was executed perfectly. You will fall in love with all of the characters, and I wanted more from both timelines because I never wanted it to end!! Of course I also would have loved a chapter or two from Iwan’s pov!

This was amazing on audio and easy to listen to! It was also easy to tell the different timelines apart. I always think chapter titles are a lot of fun. This is such a fun summer read, and I know everyone will love it! I can’t wait to read more by Ashley!

I was so excited for this book because I absolutely loved The Dead Romantics. But I think I may have loved this one just a little bit more. Ashley Poston writes magical realism so well. She writes grief so well—in all of it’s mess and heartbreak, loss and love everlasting. She writes characters you can’t help but fall in love with. As someone who has experienced a similar loss, this book made me feel so seen, like she wrote her book specifically for me.

Clementine is a burnt out book publicist who grew up following her aunt on adventures and hearing stories about her magical apartment. But when the worst day of her life happens and she loses her aunt, she forms a plan to keep herself safe from heartbreak. But a boy she meets in her inherited apartment leaves her questioning her rules and her life. The only problem is he exists in the past and her aunt warned her to never fall in love in the apartment.

This story is such an emotional and heartwarming account of love and life, grief and death, and how we change as life happens. I loved Iwan and Clementine. Their relationship was so sweet. I loved Clementine’s journey of chasing the moon and finding happiness. I loved the strong friendships. I loved every little bit of this book.

“Because the things that mattered most never really left. The love stays. The love always stays, and so do we.”

Thank you so much to Berkley for the ARC through netgalley in exchange for my honest review!

The way I devoured this book!! I loved it so much! I previously loved The Dead Romantics, so this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and this book just captured my heart! I love books with a time travel element and this one was done so well! The book also focused on the publishing and culinary worlds which also fascinated me! And that Benji cameo; I squealed! 🥰🥰🥰 Just like Dead Romantics, one of the main themes was grief and Poston wrote about it wonderfully! The acknowledgments/author notes at the end had me sobbing! I love discovering what influences an author’s work!

I thought my love for Ashley Poston's imaginative and quirky romances couldn't be topped after The Dead Romantics, but The Seven Year Slip had me clamoring for more, chapter after chapter, and was an easy five-star read for me.

I absolutely loved both Clementine and Iwan. I found them both to be relatable, and also a stark reminder of what we can lose when we put our head before our heart. Poston has officially proven her forte when it comes to abnormal, or even paranormal, romance in very real-world situations. Both main characters paralleled each other so well, whether they were on the same timeline or not. Poston sure gave me plenty of moments where I questioned whether or not this story was going to go the way I imagined it would; there were more than a few things at play that could've changed everything.

Unlike with The Dead Romantics, The Seven Year Slip didn't wait until the end for the big twist, and I really liked that about this book. It seemed pretty obvious from early on who these two characters were to each other, making the story more about the how, and not the when.

I love the paranormal, and Poston does such a wonderful job at incorporating the weird, odd, and quirky into her romances and making them into something I wholeheartedly wish could truly happen. I was simultaneously torn up both for and about Clementine. On one hand, Poston gave us a fully-formed, realistic model of grief - and in more ways than one. This isn't the first time that Poston has so beautifully intertwined grief and love, and I hope she continues with this trend in future novels since she does it so well. On the other hand, though, there were a few times I wished I could reach into the story and talk Clementine into a different path - or at least some different actions.

In the end, The Seven Year Slip combined a lot of great elements, fantastic characters, a lively location, and the ever-looming choices between wants and expectations. I was entranced with the story from the first page to the last, and Ashley Poston has officially made it onto my auto-buy list.

I loved Ashley Poston’s The Dead Romantics, so of course I had high expectations for this one. However, it fell short for me. The beginning was a bit slow for me and it took me a very long time to get Into it. And to be honest the premise of the book was a bit far fetched for me.

I LOVED this! It had the perfect amount of magical realism mixed with contemporary romance! The romance was so cute and the character development was great!! I loved all the characters in this. I think it was a lovely story about grief as well, the main character grieving her aunt, but also trying to find herself as a person.